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When it comes to daily fantasy sports, few brands are as accomplished as DraftKings. Founded in 2012, this site revolutionized DFS as a whole. If you remember, fantasy leagues were much simpler back in the day. You had limited player pools, and all stats had to be extracted manually. Well, DraftKings automated all that. But that was just the beginning.
As you’ll learn in today’s DraftKings review, they also included brand-new game formats. And before you knew it, DFS truly became a skills game. However, we want to know how DraftKings holds up in 2023. Did they let their foot off the gas, or do they still have the ‘it’ factor?
Continue reading if you want to find out. Our experts analyzed the UI, banking, payments, tournaments, and everything else you can think of. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Payment Provider | Deposit time | Withdrawal time | Safety | Approval rate |
---|---|---|---|---|
instant | 1 - 2 days | very high | High | |
instant | 1 - 3 days | high | ||
instant | 2 - 5 days | high | ||
instant | high | |||
instant | 1 - 3 days | very high | ||
instant | 1 - 3 days | high | ||
instant | 1 - 3 days | high | ||
instant | 1 - 2 days | high | ||
instant | 1 - 3 days | some | ||
Cash | instant | instant | low risk |
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This seems to be the motto of DraftKings. And honestly, we’re not complaining. The basis of this UI is a minimalistic black, grey, and orange color scheme. Within both desktop and mobile apps, we can see that white also plays a big role. It feeds off the dark background and creates a contrast where it matters. So, the majority of the layout is black, while white allows you to focus easily on the important stuff. Clever – Gambla likes small touches like this.
And we also appreciate the focus on simplicity. Even after 10+ years, DraftKings insists on separating the site based on sports. And once you choose a sport or browse the Feature events, the basic controls are right there. Just to prove our hunches, we tested DraftKings on bettors with no previous DFS experience. As we expected, they all understood what was going on and were able to adapt rather quickly.
Furthermore, it’s easy to create an account, fund it and start playing. No matter how much of a layman you might be, don’t worry. Everything is as straightforward as possible. That’s perhaps the most important thing to us at Gambla. And that’s why DraftKings is a contender for the best daily fantasy sports site.
DraftKings lets players download an app for iOS and Android. In addition, the software is pretty nice on tablets. We love seeing DFS sites opt for flexible front-end solutions. Instead of reinventing the wheel, they just stretched the site to make use of the bigger screen. So, if you have an iPad, we’d suggest you give DraftKings a chance.
But if you want to stick to your phone, just head to your app marketplace. There are legit apps on both the App Store and the Play Store. Log in with your credentials and continue where you left off. It’s that easy, believe it or not.
Another thing we appreciate is the lack of orange in the mobile UI. Sure, those big banners might work on the desktop site, but they’d be an eye sore on a 6-inch screen. That’s why the basic design works and makes it easy to establish and remember a routine.
First come, first served is a saying that also rings true in the DFS industry. DraftKings was the first brand to control the market, so they’ve had enough time to assemble a great banking section. For deposits, you can use various gift cards and debit cards or send the money via bank transfer.
There’s even a DraftKings gift card, which is useful for keeping your expenses separate. In addition, that’s how you can prevent the bank from knowing your spending habits. Even though DFS is legally a skills game, banks might still reject you for a loan because you’re a ‘risk.’ Nevertheless, you can also use PayPal or deposit at a retail location. And since DraftKings is available in various states, this is much more convenient than it sounds.
PayPal, cash, and bank transfer are currently the only withdrawal options. It might not be ideal for some, but Gambla likes when fantasy sites keep it simple. The limits are pretty decent, too, we must say. The minimum deposit gets as low as $5, while the upper threshold is $2,000 and upwards. The minimum withdrawal is $20, which we also consider decent. DraftKings determines the maximum on a per-person basis, though.
What about waiting times? PayPal is obviously the fastest, while we’ve grown to enjoy withdrawals at retail locations. Overall, Gambla likes how DraftKings does things efficiently in the banking department.
If you ever run into an issue, don’t worry. You can contact customer support and resolve your issues in three different ways – email, live chat, or phone. Many consider email and phone support outdated, but we disagree. Some people just find it easier to ring a number and call it a day. DraftKings allows just that and conducts itself properly. Some of our emails received a response after just 30 minutes, which is amazing.
Another thing we like about DraftKings support is the segmentation. In the FAQ section, you can select the nature of your issue and be connected to the right department. This saves both you and the agents a lot of time. We love solutions that make life easier, and this is just a perfect example.
Given the fact that DraftKings was founded over 10 years ago, they’ve spread throughout the country. As a result, you can enjoy daily fantasy sports at DraftKings in every US state except Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Hawaii, and select parishes in Louisiana. In addition, contests involving DraftKings Reignmaker NFTs are available in HI, CT, ID, WA, PA, MT, and NV.
However, sports betting and daily fantasy sports are two completely different things. Even though they relate to the same events, the law treats DFS as a skills game. Therefore, DraftKings Sportsbook isn’t available in the same jurisdictions. According to the bookie themselves, you can place bets on sports in:
In addition to the aforementioned states, you can also visit retail locations in Washington and Mississippi. This all leads us to conclude that DraftKings is one of the most widely available DFS and betting sites.
Keep in mind that they can still spread into more states this year. Sports betting is also legal in Nebraska, South Dakota, Arkansas, and other states. If DraftKings manages to obtain another license, Gambla’s readers will be the first to find out.
DraftKings player rewards aren’t centered around a single type of promotion. Instead, the brand uses a combination of promo codes and offers for regular players. This creates a unique mix and spices the action up significantly.
Unlike most DFS websites, DraftKings kicks things off with a welcome bonus. There’s a new promotion every month, but it’s usually a sizeable deposit match. It goes up to a couple hundred $, which isn’t half bad concerning the current market. Most importantly, the conditions are relatively fair. Therefore, we’d recommend these offers to beginners.
But the real gist of DraftKings lies in their promos for regular players. These involve holiday tournaments, special prize pools, and even satellites with seven-figure prize pools. While testing the site, we noticed a balance between competitions about leagues and single events.
Since DraftKings always has at least five tournaments per sport, it’s hard to gauge the average prize pool. But judging our findings up to this point, they mostly cover the low six-figure area.
At the time of writing, there were six NBA tournaments, with the smallest prize being $80,000. Things heat the most during March Madness and at the beginning of the NFL season. But despite the US-centric approach of DraftKings, there are plenty of niche sports and European leagues to play around with.
After completing our assessment, Gambla considers this a flexible DFS site. You can both play casually with friends or engage in high-stakes tournament play.
Most fantasy events at DraftKings relate to the NBA, NFL, PG, MLB, or the English Premier League. This is a standard setup for fantasy sites. But what sets DK apart is the depth of niche sports. Where else can you bet on fantasy mini-leagues for Olympics events? In addition, you can find some great options for NASCAR, UFC, F1, and college football. Really, when it comes to diversity, no DFS sport can match DraftKings. Depth-wise, it’s still a toss-up between them at FanDuel. But depending on the situation, we might still give a slight edge to DraftKings.
Contest-wise, you can engage in direct showdowns, Pick’em competitions, salary cap matchups, and even snake draft contests. Compared to the other big DFS providers in the US, DraftKings has by far the most variety in this department. However, as it’s usually the case, FanDuel is breathing down its necks in select categories.
The ratio between league-long contests and single-event ones is 60:40, which is about as healthy as you can hope nowadays. NBA and NFL see the most traffic, and the Gambla team regularly enjoys contests for these sports.
Some people have even said that DraftKings is the PokerStars of daily fantasy sports. Judging by the number of satellite tournaments, they might be on to something. You can really let loose here, with freerolls and holiday competitions being abundant. If you’re not the type of player to stick to a single sport, DraftKings will certainly provide a substantial amount of value.
DraftKings was one of the first DFS sites to introduce multi-position categories. For instance, before their invention, you could only use James Harden as a PG. But with athletes becoming multi-positional at an increasing rate, the roster-building process reflects reality. There are also tips, strategies, dynamic player pricing, and other features.
But if you come from the Yahoo era of DFS, you’ll love the news aggregation service. Whether it’s injuries, trades, or even rumors, it will show up in the feed. And since there is a sportsbook on the site, you can use the DraftKings aggregator for real-time info.
No, DraftKings only accepts payment methods that work with fiat currencies.
This depends on your location. Go to the Sportsbook section of the site, select How to Play, and click on Where Is Sports Betting Legal. This will show you an interactive map.
DraftKings offers a mix of large-scale competitions, satellites, freerolls, and holiday tournaments. There are always at least 4-5 tourneys going on, per sport.
Yes, DraftKings provides a stat overview for players and teams throughout a whole NBA/NFL/NHL season.
If you’re looking for an all-around beast of a DFS site, DraftKings is a perfect candidate. Not only were they the first DFS brand, but they’re also probably the best. Few brands can meet their mix of satellites, freerolls, and player-created tournaments. And even though they’re available in 40+ states, you’ll still encounter bespoke bonuses unique to your region.
We also like the banking section. Not only is it easy to make a deposit, but DraftKings also offers the most convenient payment options. Almost everything this site does fits together. Overall, the whole thing works like a well-oiled machine.
Much of this has to do with the consistency and the amount of content available. Even during the off-season, you can find fantasy contests for at least some MMA or soccer league. DFS sites are all about the community, and that’s where arriving first has its benefits.
And as a bonus, this DFS site also sports a formidable sportsbook. It uses many of the same principles as the fantasy section. So, would Gambla recommend DraftKings to its readers? Absolutely, they have our thumbs-up.
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